Everything in its Right Place
by Almariado
Summary: A little late for our show's anniversary, but better late then never. If the Observers where whipped out after the final reset, how did Peter end up in our Universe if September wasn't there to distract Walternate? Or was he? This is my flawed attempt to explain it. Post Series Finale.


**A/N This was something that crossed my mind a while ago after reading a post about the Series finale that Elialys posted on her tumblr.**

 **If the Observers were wiped out after the final reset, how come Peter ends up on Our Universe with Olivia and Etta? If September wasn't there to distract Walternate when he was about to discover** **the** **cure for Peter, which triggered the series of events that lead** **to** **Walter** **kidnapping** **his** **son's** **doppelgänger** **, how is it possible that** **Peter ends up** **on our side in the** **show's finale** **?**

 **This is my attempt to solve this discrepancy.**

 **A warning though, this is unbetaed, I'm flying solo on this one. Read it at your own risk.**

* * *

Michael watched as Dr. Ostberg removed the needle from his arm. Walter was by Michael's side, his hand gently on his shoulder. Michael was not sure if it was an attempt to comfort him, or if it was Walter himself that was seeking comfort.

Two months had passed since they had arrived at Olso, in the year 2167.

Finding the scientist responsible for the creation of the Observers had been easy. Like Donald had promised, they had help waiting for them when they arrived at the 22nd century.

But convincing the Norwegian scientist of their story and who they were had been an all different matter.

After much insistence from Walter's part, Dr. Ostberg had finally agreed to test Michael.

Obviously, the Norwegian doctor was astonished after seeing the results.

Everything had changed since then.

Walter and Michael now lived not far from the campus of the University of Oslo, having become an integral part of the Human Enhanced Intellect project Dr. Ostberg conducted.

Having finished yet another day of tests and experiments, they walked towards their accommodations. The students still lingering on campus watched as the two exotic figures passed them by. The bald headed kid and the weirdly dressed old man.

Walter always wore the coat he had brought with him from their timeline, the same one he had wear since Olivia and got him out of St. Clair's, a lifetime ago.

They entered their apartment, both of them preforming the same routine.

Walter sat on a chair behind a desk, a virtual terminal coming to life. He used it to consult the Information Index. A sort of Internet of that century but far more advanced.

Michael sat on another chair by the living room table, his eyes fixed on Walter.

He watched as the old man browsed through the information available from a century and a half ago. The search subject was always the same.

Peter Bishop.

Walter had started his search as soon as the apartment had been made available to them, using the advanced technology at their disposal to search for his long dead son.

What he had found had been disturbing.

After being unsuccessful in his preliminary search for Peter, Walter had decided to search himself.

An article about a him had popped up. More precisely, an obituary.

He had died in St. Clair's in 2012, with no living relatives.

There was no Peter.

He then proceeded to search for Olivia.

She had married John Scott. Divorced after three years, never to marry again.

No children. Died at the age of 38 in the line of duty.

After those findings Walter had concluded that his initial presumption that their presence alone in the 22nd century would be enough to correct the timeline was wrong.

Based on those findings Walter hypothesised that only after Dr. Ostberg would successfully create the technology that would allow for the enhanced human intellect, one that would not suppress emotions, therefore preventing the creation of the Observers as they knew them, only then the timeline would correct its course, giving Peter and Olivia the life together they so much deserved.

So, Walter's daily routine had become checking the past, searching for any evidence that Peter had grown up this Universe and lived on to have a beautiful wife named Olivia and a wonderful daughter named Henrietta.

A few more months passed and Dr. Ostberg was finally successful.

Still nothing changed.

Months turned into years and everything remained the same.

Walter became reclusive, refusing to leave the apartment, shutting himself off from the world.

Michael watched as his friend got older, consumed by loneliness and sadness.

It was clear that by wiping out the Observers from existence, they had successfully saved humanity. But they had also altered the timeline in a way that Peter had never been brought to their Universe.

There had been no September to distract Walternate and prevent him from finding the cure for Peter.

There had been no need for Walter to bend the fabric of reality to save a boy that was a carbon copy of his dead son.

And therefore, no war between the universes, no Fringe Division, nothing. Ultimately by saving humanity, Walter had failed Peter.

So Michael started his project. Everyday he worked in a series of devices that would allow him to achieve his goal.

And he waited.

He waited until he was physically the size of an adult, which happened roughly five years after they arrived at the 22nd century. It was important that he had the body of a grown up man, his project depended on it.

At 3:12pm, on the 14th of February 2173, he inserted the tech he had built on his brain.

Similar to the one his father, September, had used, it would allow him to travel between realities and timelines.

But the similarity between both devices ended there.

Unlike the one used by September and the other Observers, the tech Michael had built did not suppress his emotions.

Neither it would enhance his intellect. Because there was no need for that, he had been born with a brain capable of preforming the most complex calculations that allowed him to predict the outcome a certain event would have in the timeline.

Next, he proceeded to launch the beacons that would be deployed throughout the timeline.

Dressed in a suit, wearing a fedora and carrying a suitcase, he vanished.

His plan was to visit every event in the past he knew that needed to be adjusted to achieve the desired outcome.

He started with the crucial one.

The incident that would trigger the chain of events that would lead to Walter crossing over to save Peter.

He distracted Walternate at the exact same time as September had done before, preventing the scientist from finding the cure for his son.

Then, he rescued Walter and Peter from drowning in the icy waters of Raiden Lake.

He confronted Peter for the first time, a few weeks after Olivia had brought him back form Iraq, preventing him from leaving the team.

He went on, jumping through the years, back and forth, many times mimicking what September had done, like when he visited Olivia when she was alone in a bar, drowning her sorrows in a glass of scotch after Peter had left to the Other Side with is biological father. Just like September, Michael left her a drawing of Peter in the Machine.

At 3:14pm, on the 14th of February 2173, Michael was back.

He materialized in their apartment. Walter was seating in an armchair, his eyes vacant. An old turntable was playing David Bowie.

Michael leaned next to his friend.

Walter came out of his stupor, not recognizing Michael at a first glance.

"How is this possible?..." Walter's eyes widened in terror, mistaking him by the Observers they had fought so hard to eradicate from the face of the Earth.

Until realization dawned upon the old scientist "Michael?"

The young Observer smiled and put his hand on Walter's shoulder.

In a blink of an eye they were outside, it was a warm sunny day that contrasted to the cold that was supposed to be expected from a February afternoon in Norway.

"Where are we?" Walter looked around.

A lavish green park lay in front of them. Small groups of families were scattered throughout the field, some with picnic blankets, others just lazily sitting on the grass, taking in the worm rays of the sun.

"Grandpa!" Walter heard a child's voice beside him and he felt something pulling the edge of his coat. He looked down.

At his right side, a small young girl with blonde ponytails was grabbing his coat with one hand and silently asking to be picked up with the other.

"Henrietta?" Walter looked astonished at the young child, his voice but a whisper.

He picked her up, his eyes shining. "Is it really you?"

Etta gave a squeaky laugh "Grandpa you're silly. Off course it's me!" The young girl grabbed Walter's face with both her tiny hands, looking intently at him.

Her demeanour became more serious, having noticing the tears running through Walter's face. "Why are you crying grandpa? Are you hurt?"

Walter shook his head "No sweetheart, I'm just very happy to see you"

"But you saw me this morning" Etta's brow furrowed.

"I'm always happy when I see you, dear"

Etta squealed again "Then you should be smiling!"

Walter enveloped his granddaughter in a fierce hug, kissing her forehead "You are absolutely right" He wiped his tears away and gave Etta the brightest smile he could muster.

Michael gently grabbed Walter's shoulder, tilting his head.

Walter turned to his friend and nodded.

He put Etta back on the ground. A little further away he could see Peter lazily lying on the grass, his head supported by the small of Olivia's back, whom was also laying on the grass, reading a book. Peter's eyes were closed, he appeared to be sound asleep.

"Go to your parents, sweetheart. Don't run away too far, stay close to them" Walter tucked a loose strand of hair behind Etta's ear. She nodded vigorously, making the strand loose again.

Walter smiled and kissed his granddaughter's forehead one last time. "Go now, dear."

Etta turned away running towards her parents.

Walter turned to Michael, patting the hand the young Observer had on his shoulder "Thank you Michael" he said in a strained voice, tears flowing once again.

The young Observer nodded gently and smiled.

And then they were gone.

* * *

Walter found himself in a place were light was scarce, his ageing eyes having a hard time adjusting from the sunlight of the outside where they had been a split second before to the darkness of wherever it was that Michael had brought them into.

But his other senses were struck by familiarity. More specifically his sense of smell, even before he started to recognize where he was as his eyes finally started to make sense of the shadows around him.

But it was a sound that finally gave away the location.

A cow mooed, sounding like a protest against the two invaders that were probably disturbing her sleep.

"Gene?" Walter squinted his eyes in the direction from where the sound came.

The lights were turned on, making Walter blink a few times. He looked around in wonder, taking in each different item scattered around the old lab.

"We're at the lab" He said in wonder, staring at Michael. "I thought you were going to return us..."

He was interrupted by the sound of the doors being opened.

Walter turned towards it. He was astonished when he saw Peter standing at the entrance.

The face of the younger Bishop broke into a smile.

Peter ran into his father, enveloping him in a hug.

"I thought you were gone" Peter said against Walter's shoulder.

Walter relinquished in the embrace his son was giving him and returned it with equal fervour.

He still couldn't understand how Michael had made it happen, how it was possible to be in the presence of his beloved son, his Peter. But at the moment, he couldn't care less.

They broke away. Still, Walter kept his hands on Peter's face. Tears flowed from the old scientist's eyes and he was unable the mutter a word.

Peter reached for his pocket "I got this when I returned home with Olivia and Etta from the park this afternoon" He showed Walter the letter with the white tulip.

The elder Bishop picked the drawing from Peter's hand. He stared at it as the emotions started to overwhelm him once more. It was the same white tulip that Alistair Peck had sent him all those years ago in a different timeline.

The same one September had saved from that same erased timeline and returned to him when Walter needed hope once more to defeat the Observers.

The implications behind it were clear.

Everything had happened like before. Even without the Observers.

Somehow Michael had made it so.

Walter turned towards where the boy Observer was standing.

But he was no longer there. He had vanished.

"What is it?" Peter frowned, watching his father looking intently at the vacant space.

Walter shook is head "Nothing, don't worry son" He shifted his eyes once more towards the drawing he was holding "Do you remember the Observers? Do you remember what happened?" Walter asked with a strained voice.

Peter nodded slowly "Yes, after I saw the letter you sent me, all the memories from that timeline when the Observers invaded started flooding my mind."

"And Olivia?" Walter inquired.

"She remembers also" Peter smiled "She actually remembered before I did, at the exact moment the Observers were supposed to invade. She didn't wanted to tell me about it though, didn't wanted me to remember Etta's death" Peter gave a sad smile.

Walter grabbed Peter's face once more "She is an extraordinary woman, your Olivia. You're lucky to have her"

Peter's smile broadened, his eyes shinning with unshed tears "I know I am"

The younger Bishop grabbed his father once more, giving him another heart-warming hug.

"Tell you what" Peter said after they broke the embrace "Why don't you have dinner with us and spend the night. You have to tell us how on earth you managed to come back from where you're weren't suppose to return from."

Walter wiped his eyes in his coat sleeve "I would love that son."

He turned once more to the place where Michael had stood just moments before. A silent 'thank you' escaped his lips as more tears threatened to escape his eyes.

A bitter-sweet feeling invaded him. Of sadness, because somehow he felt that he would never see his friend Michael again. Of gratefulness and joy, because of the lengths that the young Observer went just so Walter could be back with his beloved Peter and his family again.

Walter was brought back from his inner thoughts when he felt Peter's arm around his shoulders.

"Come on, dad" The younger Bishop squeezed his shoulder "Let's go home"


End file.
